The blog www.chedet.com by our very own former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad hit the one million mark today! And he did it within one month! Awesome!

And here I am, a newbie at blogging still struggling to learn new things and trying to absorb what I learnt. In fact, to be completely honest I did not know what the heck these words mean before I started blogging. Some of these words I did not even know existed.

Today I'm dedicating this song to my friend Karen who had just lost her father.

This song is called "Bye Bye" sung by my favourite singer, Mariah Carey. Though this single did not make it to No.1 on the Billboard Singles Chart, nevertheless it is a very meaningful and touching song, especially for those who just lost someone close. I've included the lyrics below the video.

Look out for the late Pavarotti and Luther Vandross at the end of the video.

This is for my peoplesWho just lost somebodyYour best friend, your babyYour man or your ladyPut your hand way up highWe will never say byeNo, no, no

Mamas, daddys, sisters, brothersFriends and cousinsThis is for my peoplesWho lost their grandmothersLift your head to the skyCause we will never say bye

As a child there were them timesI didn't get itBut you kept me in lineI didn't know whyYou didn't show up sometimesOn Sunday mornings and I missed youBut I'm glad we talked through

All them grown folk thingsSeparation bringsYou never let me know itYou never let it showBecause you loved me and obviouslyThere's so much more left to sayIf you were with me todayFace to face

I never knew I could hurt like thisAnd everyday life goes on I wishI could talk to you for a whileMiss you but I try not to cryAs time goes by

And it's true that you'veReached a better placeStill I'd give the world to see your face And be right here next to you But it's like you're gone too soon Now the hardest thing to do is say

You never got a chance to see How good I've done And you never got to See me back at number one I wish that you were here To celebrate together I wish that we could Spend the holidays together

I remember when you used toTuck me in at nightWith the teddy bear you gave meThat I held so tightI thought you were so strongYou'd make it through whateverIt's so hard to accept the factYou're gone forever

I never knew I could hurt like thisAnd everyday life goes on I wishI could talk to you for a whileMiss you but I try not to cryAs time goes by

And it's true that you'veReached a better placeStill I'd give the world to see your face And be right here next to you But it's like you're gone too soon Now the hardest thing to do is say

I know I don't usually talk about such a topic but when I met up with a group of female friends recently and they brought this up, I thought why not do some research and then blog about it?

I think nowadays, even males are interested. Especially metrosexual males.

And like it or not, more and more men are interested in taking care of their skin. They are using skin care products like never before. Some of my female friends are jealous when they found out that their male friends have better looking skin than them!

Since there are already so many ads from skin care companies, I won't touch on which products that can reduce those unsightly pores on your face. Not unless they pay me.

I rather go for the natural way, with no chemicals from products that promise miraculous claims.

Here's what I discovered...

It seems that large skin pores are usually usually genetic and inherited, but oily skin also causes skin pores to enlarge because of excess sebum production. Nothing much can be done (Oh NO!!) but... there are steps to take to reduce the size of the pores temporarily.

Of course, if your face is oily, the obvious thing to do is always keep it clean and wipe off excess oil regularly. Gentle face scrubbers and facepacks help tone up the size of the pores.

Here's a few methods to reduce pores naturally using natural ingredients.

1.Tomato juice applied on skin with cotton ball and left on face for 20 mins. Wash off with lukewarm water.

2.Mashed papaya applied on face for a few minutes. Wash off with lukewarm water.

3.Whipped egg yolk with few drops of lemon juice applied on face and left on for a few minutes. Wash off with lukewarm water.

4.Honey with a little lemon juice and sugar applied on face and left for a few minutes. Rinse off with lukewarm water.

Anyone can do the above. It's easy and hassle free. But what if you don't have tomatoes or papayas or eggs or lemon juice at hand BUT you need to go out on a date in half an hour's time?

Here's the remedy ...Just wrap some ice cubes in a cotton cloth and rub the cloth on your face. This works because ice shrinks the size of the pores temporarily and can decrease oil production for some time.

Now dear readers, do give it a try and let me know if any of these methods work for you.

For more info, do check out this website where I got my information from.

I know the secrets. And I discovered it today at the Borders Bookstore in The Curve.

It was after lunch with a friend at Dragon-I restaurant and my friend had to leave so I decided to do some strolling around the Curve. Walked past Borders, and the welcoming sight of rows and rows of books were too big a temptation to resist.

And so I found myself casually flipping through some books here and there, not really reading anything at all. Then this book caught my attention. The title reads "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die". I zoomed in on the author's name - Dr. John Izzo. Hmm, heard his name from somewhere, but could not recall.

Found myself a nice chair to sit and I proceeded to read the book. I did not know about 1 hour had passed when I finally put the book down! It was a such a good read! Touching and inspiring, warm and full of wisdom.

It is the secret to Happiness. To live well and die happy. It seemed that Dr John Izzo, a best selling author and corporate speaker, had interviewed over 200 people aged 60-106 asking them to reflect back on their lives. What did they learn? What brought them happiness and what did they regret?

From all the interviews, Dr Izzo were able to conclude the 5 secrets to living happily and meaningfully. They are:1. Be true to yourself2. Leave no regrets3. Become love4. Live in the moment5. Give more than take

On reflection, these 5 secrets are really no secrets at all. I mean we know them deep inside us, only thing is we are too busy with our lives to really ponder or put into practice.

Be True To Yourself. This simply means be yourself. Be honest with yourself. Live life that is true to you and not lie to yourself. Live your life and not other people's lives.

Leave No Regrets. Any action we take, we must be fully responsible. There should be no regrets over what we had done. It also means take more risks in life, instead of being afraid and regretting later.

Become Love. Love is the most powerful emotion in the universe. Be more loving to oneself, and to others.

Live In The Moment. Focus on the present. There's not much you can do about the past, it's over. There's no point in worrying about the future because the present determines the future. In other words, why worry about the past or future when what really matters in the present. The Now. (Refer to "The Power Of Now" by Eckhart Tolle)

Give More Than Take. Give and you shall receive. The happiest people on earth are those who give more than they receive. Giving also signifies you have abundance, and that's a great mentality to have. Because when you believe you have abundance, somehow you do. That's how it works. (Refer to "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne)

I am thankful I went to Borders today and left with a higher awareness of what I must do in my life!

After a friend read my blog yesterday on the subject of working out, she asked what shoes I wear for jogging in the park. Well, what she really meant was which "brand" I wear.

To be honest, I really do not know which brand is the best. The famous ones are Nike, Adidas, Asics and New Balance just to name a few. I guess the most important thing is to choose one which is comfortable and suitable for your feet. Maybe that's why different brands are suitable for different people.

I am currently wearing a New Balance running shoe for my jogging sessions in the parks. So far, I like it. It's comfortable, and gave me good support. Here's the photo.

It may not be very stylish looking but for me, it's OK. I don't need a very stylish shoe for jogging. As long as it gives me good support and can last long, that's good enough for me!

Actually, why I ended up buying New Balance is because I like that they help me choose the right shoes for my feet. I bought this shoes at 1 Utama New Balance shop (it's at the New Wing - can't remember whether it's 1st or 2nd floor). The owner of the shop was very helpful. He measured my feet and told me I am flat- footed as opposed to arch- footed. It seemed that if you are flat- footed, you cannot wear shoes meant for arch- footed people, and vice versa.

I don't remember those sales people at Adidas and Nike ever gave me such advice. They just let you choose your own shoes. Although New Balance shoes are not cheap, neither are Adidas or Nike's.

So I would definitely recommend that New Balance shop in 1 Utama if you are looking for a good pair of running shoes. What's more, if you are member of Fitness First gym (and also other famous gyms - can't remember which ones), you are given a 20% discount. If you are a member of the Pacesetter's Athletic Club, a running club in Malaysia, you get to buy at a whopping 30% discount!

According to fitness experts, an average person should exercise at least 20 minutes 3 times a week. Yes, that's the absolute minimum to preserve good health.

With this in mind, I decided to make a trip to the gym this morning. But then I decided against it. What's so fun about working out on the treadmill or elliptical machine which is stationary inside an enclosed building? Unless, of course, if you are one of those people who enjoy watching the numerous TV channels offered by the gym while you are running on the treadmill. The way I see it, if you are not working out with weights, forget about going to the gym.

It's really so much fun and I dare say, healthier to exercise in the parks or anywhere close to nature. I mean, unless it's raining hard or snowing, or there's a haze blowing from Indonesia, there's no point in working out indoors. The air is fresher outside, the greeneries relaxes your mind and your eyes, the chirping of birds somehow makes you feel livelier and happier.

In any case, I do believe that we humans must regularly get back to nature. Especially for those of us who live in concrete jungles and hardly take the time to even relax in our own garden (that is, if you have one!)

I have a large field in front of my house that many residents here do their morning or evening exercises. But you know, I kinda get bored with it. Sometimes, you need a change of environment, a change of scenery.

Furthermore, it's no fun to be jogging round the field and keep bumping into your neighbours at every round! Especially when you are running in the clockwise direction and they are running in the opposite anti-clockwise direction. You are bound to meet them halfway every round!First time, you both can simply exchange greetings of "hi!"Second time, you can casually ask "How are you doing?"Third time, you can say "Here we meet again!" and let off a pretentious laugh.After that, I believe we will have a hard time coming out with decent one-liners. Maybe at the 10th round (if you can last that long), you can say "Wow! You're still here? Not bad! Not bad! You know what? I think I'll be making my move. See ya. Bye!!"

Of course, another stategy is to simply run in the same direction as your neighbours. Then, depending on how fast or slow you run, you will never ever bump into them. If your neighbour is ahead of you and he or she runs much faster than you, you are at risk of him or her catching up with you from behind and strike up a one-liner with you. So you have to be as fit as your neighbour to avoid him or her catching up with you.

However, if you are much faster than your neighbour, then you run the risk of bumping into him or her from behind and you will need to come up with a one-liner yourself. So the trick is to run at the same pace as your neighbours. The only problem here is if you are fitter than your neighbour, running at his or her pace will bore you to death!

Recently, I invented a third stategy. This is called "No Talking" stategy. It works like this. First time when you meet your neighbours at the field, let them know that when you exercise, you must fully concentrate and focus at the work at hand and you won't want to talk or involve in any kind of conversation with anyone unless it's an emergency. So, once they know your stand on this, each time you bump into them on your run, you either just smile or nod your head. Or just pretend your are focusing on your legs and don't look at them! They won't blame you or say you are arrogant because you already told them you won't talk during exercise. Good idea, no?

Now you may ask why bother with all these strategies? Why not just indulge in good old gossips with neighbours? Isn't it much more fun to be discussing which neighbours did what while at the same time improve your health by jogging? Or chat on Tun Mahathir's exit from Umno and if any Umno members follow suit. Or if David Cook really deserve to win the American Idol title when your neighbour is so eager to watch the results tonight and have no idea who won?

Yes, that could be fun, but according to fitness experts, if you can talk and chat so much without losing breath while exercising, you are not exercising hard enough! So there you go - no pain no gain! Not only that, it also defeats the whole purpose of exercising!

For me, I no longer jog on the field in front of my house. I now go to public parks. There are so many of them. Like Taman Lembah Kiara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail for one. I have even taken photos of the park. It's such a nice place with a lake and fountain and jogging tracks for joggers.

Monday was Wesak Day. I don't celebrate it so it's just a normal public holiday for me. Usually on a holiday like this, I meet up with friends to "lepak" in one of our large shopping complexes in the city. We go watch a movie, maybe go for a game or two of bowling, do some shopping, and of course, sit for hours at a good cafe or eatery to simply chit chat away.

Sometimes we go for karaoke too, depending on which friends I go out with. Some friends simply can't sing to save their lives, so they avoid karaoke like the plague. And that's all for the better because one thing I can't stand is having to sing with someone who sing a song completely out of pitch! You know how it's like - before we reach the second verse, I don't even know which key I am in!

Strangely enough, these "tone deaf" friends of mine don't seem to realise they are really "pitchy" as Randy Jackson of American Idol would say. Unlike Randy who would say "There's a couple of pitchy problems here and there", my "tone deaf" friends were "pitchy" all the way throughout the song! I'm not joking! They would sing even louder than me and by the time we finish the song, they would have made a complete mess of the otherwise perfectly beautiful song. Oh you can just see them beaming from head to toe as if they have just out-sing the original singer of the song. By the way, the original singer is Mariah Carey.

Now I am not saying I am a great singer. Heck! I can't even make it as a good karaoke singer. In fact, singing is just a part time hobby that I occasionally indulge in. And don't anyone dare ask me to sing in front of a large crowd. I only sing with a couple of friends - in small cubicle karaoke rooms. But, and this is a big BUT, I do sing in pitch. OK, maybe not in perfect pitch all the time, but at least not out of pitch most of the time!

Luckily for me, most of my "tone deaf" friends know what to do and they either don't join me for karaoke or if they do, they just sit and listen while others sing. Well if they go for the latter, I'm all for it because then I get to sing more songs and still pay the same amount (if you know what I mean - he he)

But there's two or three who insist that they join us for karaoke. Of course when they insist, I can't say no, can I? Maybe I should be brave enough and just tell them the truth. What they don't want to hear. Alas, I'm too nice for that. So, I'll either think of one hundred excuses why I am not able to turn up for the karaoke sessions, or I'll simply choose a song so unpopular with the common crowd that none of my "tone deaf" friends know how to sing the song! Aha! Then I will have the mike all to myself. Yippee!

"Zero" Free Seats! Wow! What a deal! I'm talking about the fantastic offers from AirAsia and MAS. This war of prices between the two airlines is just so wonderful for those who like to travel and simply can't afford it. It's time to start booking for my next holiday trip... or trips!

Now let me see, where shall I go? Let's focus on the domestic destinations. I know, I know, AirAsia just launched the free seats for International flights - so I'm really feeling all mixed up now. Should I go Bali? Hong Kong? Siem Reap? Hey, Macau is not bad! That's according to my friend who went there last year.

Oh, I'm supposed to focus on the domestic flights first. OK, let's see... I love to go Penang. It's a wonderful place. But haven't been to Langkawi - can you imagine? I'm ashamed but yes, I, a Malaysian, have never stepped onto Langkawi shores when millions of tourists overseas have been there.

Then again, I always yearn to go climb Mount Kinabalu. I actually planned for this mountain climbing trip 2 years ago but it never materialised. The first time, I realised I was simply not fit enough. Running up a few flight of stairs already left me panting, how to climb the mountain? The second time, I'm fitter (a little - ha ha!) but found out the Laban Rata lodge (which is midway up the mountain) fully booked! It seemed you have to book a few months in advance as they have limited rooms. So, now I'm more prepared. I can book 6 months in advance giving me time to also do some intense exercise and training. Good! I shall make my dreams come true this time! But I still want to go Langkawi! And not forgetting all those wonderful beaches on the east coast! Oh, I'm spoilt for choice and I've a limited budget, but to make matters worse, I can't resist the overseas trips! How lah?

I know time is of the essence. Even as I struggle to make up my mind, the flight tickets are being taken. The days to book the cheap tickets are numbered. So, I better stop blogging and go straight to AirAsia.com right now to book my flights! Whether it is Langkawi or Kinabalu or Bali or all three I gotta make up my mind right now!! And of course, if any readers are so kind as to sponsor my trips, please write to me now and I'll gladly welcome you to join me on my trips! Ha ha!

Hooray! No more LWP! Water back to normal. With such hot weather, water is a necessity. Now that the water pressure is back to normal (btw, LWP stands for Low Water Pressure), I don't have to worry whether the water will reach my house water tank. That means no worries where to take my bath daily. Hope it'll stay that way!

And now here's the answers to the IQ Test I posted yesterday. Not really an IQ Test - I would say it's just a Trick Test, as in trick questions.

For the past one week, I have been suffering from LWP. No, I'm not sick and it's not a disease. LWP stands for Low Water Pressure. When I turn on the tap - any tap in my house - water trickled out in small doses - it took me 2 minutes to scrub an apple when it normally takes only 30 seconds!

A call to Syabas (Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor) proved to be futile as the people there did not know the reason for the LWP. Are they kidding or what? If they don't know, who the hell knows? I thought it was just my home that was inflicted with this unexplained phenomena, but on calling a few residents around my neighbourhood I learnt that I was not alone.

I am worried that with the LWP, I won't be able to take a proper bath everyday. Till now, I can still manage, but if the situation worsens, I'm afraid I'll have to check into a hotel just to take a bath! Or maybe, since I'm a member of Fitness First gym, I could drop by the gym just to take my bath. But as the weather is so hot nowadays, I'll be drenched in sweat by the time I reach home from the gym! Rather pointless, isn't it?

Now if someone can tell me how to fix this LWP I shall be very grateful indeed!

I did not want to believe it - but it's true! Mariah Carey, the diva who has the most No.1 hits for a female singer in USA, was married last week. This was confirmed today by Oprah Winfrey and a number of other sources online.But the funny part is, Mariah is married to a man 11 years her junior. I have to admit I have never heard of her new husband who goes by the name Nick Cannon. He's 27 and she's 38. Curiosity got the better of me and I googled Nick Cannon's name. Lo and behold, I learnt a few things about this man, who by the way is black, rather good looking, is an actor and rap artist. Surprising I have never heard of him before, but I guess he'll be much more famous from now on as Mr Carey. Haha! Well, Nick Carey sounds better than Mariah Cannon, no?

I have always idolised Mariah Carey. I bought all her albums since she started way back in the 90's. Her music and voice is simply superb, and even now she has gone deeply into hip-hop music, I have not stopped buying her albums! Her latest album, E=mc2 debuted on top of the Billboard chart, and I really enjoy all the songs in the album. I know a lot of people prefer Mariah during her younger years as those were the times she belt out huge beautiful ballads. I love those ballads too! But I guess with time, things change. Mariah got fatter and started singing with a lot of black rappers. That puts a lot of people off! But she preservered, and managed to get new fans. Look at her now, all slim and fit and successful.

Of course to top it all, she got married. Not a big deal maybe to many people. But to me, it's a big deal. How ironic she's married to a man 11 years younger when her first husband, Mr Tommy Mottola is 20 years her senior! She's 24 and Tommy's 44 when they got married. Has she gone to the other extreme?

I do hope Mariah's new marriage is for real and will last. It's really hard to say seeing so many Hollywood stars getting divorced just after a few months of marriage. But Mariah only met Nick for about a month during their video shoot of her latest single, "Bye Bye", so it's way too fast for marriage, don't you think?

Well, in actual fact, I don't think I should bother too much about her private life. As long as she still comes out with good albums, I'll be fine. So I guess I will just have to wish Mariah and Nick the best!

Wow! Almost 2 months have gone by since my last entry. Something came up, or rather many things came up and I did not have the time to blog. OK, actually I did have the time to blog, but I was just plain lazy. Preferred to read other people's blogs. Haha!

I had just finished reading some of our politicians' blog namely, Lim Kit Siang, Teresa Kok, and our ex-PM, Tun Mahathir. It's so interesting to read all their blogs especially all those comments by other bloggers. I'm also studying the layout of their blogs cos I'm still a newbie at blogging and need to learn to improve. Didn't know Tun Mahathir beat me to it and did a much better job! Ha ha!

I also enjoy reading blogs on food especially Malaysian food. I usually go to KampungboyCitygal blog - they really take very good pictures of very delicious looking food! Hmm, maybe I should start a food blog myself! But wait, one step at a time.

Of course, I also frequently visit Malaysia's most famous blogger, Kenny Sia's blog. His blog is usually funny and help me to de-stress actually!

I will try to blog everyday just for the fun of it, so happy blogging to me!